Man killed and lady friend wounded in Kingstown Park shooting

Longstanding residents of Kingstown Park are of the opinion that the community is now a scary place to live as the murder toll in the area continues to rise.

Around 9 p.m on Saturday, August 24, 2024, Jamari Prince, 22, and his girlfriend Ayana “Femi” Parsons, 42, were returning home after an outing when a gunman shot both of them, killing Prince on the spot and wounding Parsons in the leg.

An elderly man, 88, who has lived in Kingstown Park all his life told SEARCHLIGHT on Monday that he was watching TV on the night in question when he heard about five gunshots, and soon after someone began pulling on his door knob.

“I heard the door handle for the living room door first, and then the kitchen door but I didn’t move. I told my son who had just come out the bath…” the man told SEARCHLIGHT, adding that they did not go outside right away but when they did, they saw blood in the veranda and learnt about the shooting.

They surmised that Parsons was the one who was pulling on the door, probably seeking refuge from the attacker.

“This area never use to be like this,” the man said. He further told SEARCHLIGHT that the couple was renting the dwelling from his sister and had come to live in the area about two years ago.

“He was a good person, never know he to be troublesome so not sure why anyone would want to kill him. He would pick breadfruit for me and sometimes he would go shop for me too,” the elderly man said of Prince who is originally from Layou but has ties in West Kingstown.

Two other elderly residents, a man and a woman, said they heard the gunshots and are upset about the homicides that have been taking place in their neighbourhood.

“Every minute is something now up here now. It never use to be so,” the woman complained.

On Monday, SEARCHLIGHT visited Parsons at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) where she was nursing her wound surrounded by female family members.

She said she did not wish to comment on what happened.

Parsons is no stranger to tragedy; in April 2004, another of her boyfriends, Mwata Wynne, of Block 2000/Old Montrose, died after being chopped on his neck by a co-worker at his workplace in Arnos Vale. Parsons also lost a family member to gun violence in 2018, when Redemption Sharpes resident, 31 year old Jaybarry Charles, was shot and killed in his village.

Homicides in Kingstown Park over the years include the September 2013 shooting of Ricardo “Smokey” Roberts; the 2014 Saturday, July 5 shooting of Kevin Greaves; the November, 2014 death of 38 year old Keon Lawrence; and the June, 2022 shooting of Cassion Stapleton.